A lot of equipment is needed in the shared everyday life of man and dog, in their shared sports activities, or for the training and deployment of service dogs. Within these activities, the function of dog harnesses is to lead a dog on a leash, hold it back, lift it, assist it in traffic, assist it to pull loads, do sports involving dogs, etc., by means of straps running across the chest, around the neck, under the belly and along the back of a dog and connected to each other. Numerous constructions of harnesses are known where the load is distributed on the neck and chest of the dog, such as in Publications U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,819 and DE 202 19 55401. Other types of dog harnesses try to relieve the neck of the dog, and therefore, the straps run away from it, only across the chest, under the belly and along the back of the dog, such as in Publications DE 20219 554 U1, G 90 17 247.7, and DE 203 04 940 U1.
It can be seen, however, that every dog harness has one or more elements suitable for attaching a leading leash, a chest part or a chest strap connected to a belly strap, a back strap and a trace strap, as well as one or more buckle portions ensuring strap adjustment or fastening on an animal.
Dog harnesses that are especially practical are those where the horizontally running chest strap and the back strap are connected on both sides by a connecting element or neck strap connected to the chest strap and the back strap in a non-releasable manner. Such equipment is disclosed in GB 389,276 (London 1932), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,762. A pressure distribution element or chest pad attachable on the chest portion of the dog harness is not mentioned in these utility models.
In prior arrangements, a first pressure distribution element attachable to a dog harness in a releasable manner was the so-called ‘Y’-strap, a development in Hungary in 2003. A later, padded version thereof is disclosed in Publication No. 402011003598-0005 (DPMA Design).
For the attachment of this pressure distribution element, the chest strap of the dog harness needs to be fully openable, as the pressure distribution element is attached by pulling on the harness. One example of this type of dog harness is shown in Publication No. DE 3020090609896. The chest strap closes on itself by a hook and loop fastener in a releasable manner. In the previous arrangement, the first chest pad attachable to a dog chest harness in a releasable manner was the so-called ‘Y’-strap.
Two loops formed on the stalk of the ‘Y’-shaped pressure distributor, fixed to themselves in a non-releasable manner, allow the attachment of the ‘Y’ pressure distributor to the chest strap by pulling on. After attachment by pulling on the harness, the ‘Y’ pressure distributor is connected to the chest strap by the loop portions. Both loop portions of the ‘Y’ pressure distributor are designed to close on themselves at an angle other than 180°. In this manner, the closing edges are not closing on each other. Thereby, the closing edges have an overextending portion or a cut edge.
One previous arrangement also includes a pressure distribution element attachable by partially opening a chest strap, such as the device disclosed in Hungarian utility model No. U1000003. This pressure distribution element, attachable to the chest strap of a dog chest harness, can be attached to any dog harness with a chest strap of an openable design. The loop portion of the pressure distribution element attachable to a dog chest harness according to this utility model is openable, so it can be attached to the chest strap without pulling it on.
Another previous pressure distribution element comprises a padding portion and a strap portion connected to it, with fastener element loop and hook components fixed on the strap portion that divides it into an outer stalk portion and an inner stalk portion towards the padding portion, as well as at least one loop portion connected to the chest strap of the dog harness resting flat between the padding portion and the inner stalk portion.
In this previous arrangement, the padding portion closing element and the inner stalk closing element are connected to each other in a releasable manner, so the loop portion resting flat is openable. According to one aspect of the invention, the padding portion is attached in the connection area of the pressure distribution element attachable to the chest strap of a dog chest harness and the chest strap, in a manner lining it. The padding portion closing element, the inner stalk closing element, the closing element connecting to the outer stalk portion and the outer stalk hook and loop fastener counterpart are connected in that sequence, closing an angle of 180° with each other. According to another aspect of the invention, the padding portion has an edging strip.
A disadvantage of this previous arrangement is that, for attaching the pressure distributor, the pressure distributor itself needs to be equipped with several hook and loop fastener components. The loop portion resting flat extends beyond the chest strap in the vertical direction, and it is complicated to attach. The hook and loop fastener components close on the padding portion on top of each other, which, in addition to making the attachment cumbersome, subjects the surface of the padding portion to stress. This previous arrangement discloses a padding portion removable from the chest strap, from the outer chest strap part, which is disadvantageous because of the hook and loop fastener adjustments, and also involves the risk of improper adjustment.